Flood: Reps seek ecological disaster status for Auchi

The House of Representatives has urged the federal government to consider Auchi town of Edo state as an ecological disaster area because of the raving flood and gully erosion in the town.
The House also urged the federal government to make more funds available from the Ecological fund, in order to ensure effective control and management of the challenges.
The urge by the House of Representatives followed a motion by Hon, Johnson Oghuma who raised a motion on the need toaddress the Ecological disaster in Auchi, Etsako Federal Constituency of Edo state.
He noted that the catastrophic disaster in some parts of Auchi/Etsako Federal Constituency and other areas has been of great consequences to the people.
According to him, the affected areas include the Igbe road axis, which is a major commercial centre of Auchi town and the south side of Idani-race community also in Auchi.
He added that continuous negligence will lead to more catastrophes which may lead to loss of many lives and destruction of property.
He expressed concern over the 2018 budget allocation set aside to address some humanitarian crises explaining that it may not be enough to address the ecological situation on ground considering the magnitude of the explosive ecological problems in the state.
The motion was adopted through voice votes as Speaker Yakubu Dogara urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials to the affected people.